Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-02-04
A SPANISH EXPLORER.
The First European to Lead Party
Through Texas.
Written for the Gazette.

Writte en- for the Gazette.
The first European to make extensive
explorations in Texas wss Alvar Nurez,
! who has left a record of his wGDderings
which appeared in SPAN in 1887, and
which has been used to advantage by II
II. Bancroft in his History of the North
| Mexican States and Texas. He was one OF
the survivors OF party of Spsniards
numbering 2+0 men, besides the officers,
who for six weeks sailed in frail craft,
| tempest tossed, and suffering terribly
| from thirst, hunger, exposure and attacks
| from Warl:ke Indians, until early IN No
| vember, 1927, they finally stranded on an
| island of the coast OF Texas. Emscisted
and W ak, the naked survivors were cast
| up by the waves to fail into the hands of
| the savages.
A few of the strongest survivors were
sent to the main land by their
fellows with orders to seek help
fIom the nearest SpaniardS. The re-
mafnder were soon reduced from eighty
to fifteen by famine AMI pestllcnce, and
these few were enslavsd by the Indians
and soon became scattered from one
another. Alvar Nurez remained on the
island a captive for more than 8 year,
and was forced by his harsh masters TO
dig roots as food from under the water.
After tine, however. ne was allowed
greater liberty and bettered his condition
by trading with the natives on the main
land, travelling, naked as he was, over
Texas tor many leagues Of territory, and
exchanging shells and various articles
used on the coast for skins and other in
land products. Thus, for SIX years, he
involuatarily msie his home at Malhado
island, for thus ne named the place OF
mis- misfortune.
After these years Of captivity be finally
succeeded in escaping from his captors
with OvieGo, the only other
white survivor remaining on the
island. He went down the coast,
passing four large rivers and finally Gu
tered bay which he supposed was the Es
plritu Santa, discovered IN 1919. He soon
fell in with three other persons belonging
to the original party, and these four are
the only ones who were known to have
survived of the 500 that had sGiled from
Florida.
Alvar Nurez and his party, having
learned through terrible hardship to &C
COmmOdate themselves to life in the will
derness, made the first extensive eX Dlora-
tons III Texas and in the adjoining cOun-
try that is known to have been msde by
Europeans. His account of their wan
behring's was republished number OF
times in Spain, under a variety of titles,
and was also translated into Italian,
French and English. Another narrative
exists in the report gwen by the party to
the audiencia in Mexico, in 1886. Al
though both statements bear the evil
dent imprint of the fullest good
faith they were written from men,
org and contain many inaccuracies. They
agree in essentials, no Eever, in regard to
the adventures of the party, but there is
wide difference in dates, directions and
distances. These reports are fragment
airy and ever contradictory, but they |
throw q priceless light on the condition |
of Texas then
As the Spaniards do not speak of cross |
ing the Mississippi river,as they certainly |
would had they noticed it, MaIhado island |
must, therefore, have been to the west
ward of that stream. Their location of |
the bay of Espiritu Santo is fixed by GER
tain great sand Mills, which Oviedo men
lions as prominent landmarks, and at the
present day the United States coast sur
vey speaks of the sand mounds as rising
from an almost level prsirie region at
the bay which now bears the name of
ESpiritu Santo. This from the internal
evidence of those early narratives that
either this bay or San Antonio has the
best claim of being the initial point from
which explorations began into the Texan
territory. The journey of these pioneer
explorers began in the summer of 1885,
when NureZ and OviedO took advantage
Of their masters annual visit to the in
terror, to procure supply of prickly
pears for food, TO make their escape.